Review: Olight S15 baton (1/2/3*AA / 14500)

Olight S15 baton


Specifications

Brand/model: Olight S15 baton
LED: Cree XM-L2 CW
Working voltage: 0.9-5V
Battery: 1/2/3*AA/14500
Switch: Electronic side switch
Modes: 4 + strobe
Mode changing: Electronic side switch
Anodizing: HAIII
Tail-stand: YES
Lock-Out: YES
Momentary on: NO
Coated glass lens: YES
Reflector: Smooth
Waterproof:

IPX-8

The Olight S15 Baton is the latest in the S-Baton line from Olight, that offers an XM-L2, and takes 1/2/3AA cells, as well as a Lithium Ion 14500 cell.
I`ve been drawn more towards AA type flashlights lately, and the Olight S15 seem to be a nice addition to the AA family with its 250 lumens, and qualifies for a good EDC.


First impressions:

The light comes in a rather cheap looking plastic case. Not as fancy as with my Sunwayman V11R Mirage
It contains:

  1. S15 baton flashlight with clip and magnet.
  2. Manual
  3. Lanyard
  4. Spare o-rings
  5. A rubber "coin" to replace the magnet inside the tail-cap
  6. An extra gift.. an AA extender!! (This let the S15 work on 2 AA batteries for extra run-time)More on that later.


I left the manual out of this picture.


The S15 looks well made and has a slightly larger diameter head than the body.
It came with a fairly strong clip, which is tight fit.
One of the first things that drew my attention was the blue switch-button, which feels great.
The engraving is nice thick and sharp!
There is no grip on the head, and not near the switch, so it feels a bit slippery.
The XM-L2 is very well centered.(see pic below)



Square threads and strong clip.

Clear letters!

Size and handling:

I had an Eagletec D25A (87x17mm, 25gram) for a while, and one of the things I didnt like about it, is that it was soo tiny, light and thin. After acquiring the Xeno E03 (97x21mm 48gram), I liked that one much more size-wise than the Eagletec.

Now with holding the Olight S15 baton, it`s again a step back from the Xeno E03, but not so bad as the D25A. And on top of that the head is wider than the body.
So with the clip on the opposite side of the switch, its really easy to handle and hold.
The tailcap contains a fairly strong magnet, which can be taken out!
The light has a few short-cuts to different modes... Read on.

Compared to a few of my 1xAA and AAA lights;


1. Itp A3 2. Ultrafire M5 3. Olight S15 baton 4.SWM V11R 5.SWM M10A 6.Fenix LD12

1. Olight S15 2.Nitecore EA2 3.Klarus P2A 4.Fenix E21

Length of 2xAA lights:
1. Olight S15.........138mm
2. Nitecore EA2......134mm
3. Klarus P2A.........155mm
4. Fenix E21..........162mm

Dimensions and weight:

Olight S15 baton Eagletec D25A
Sunwayman V11R Fenix LD12
Length 1xAA 87mm 87mm 100mm 105mm
Length 2xAA 138mm
Width tail 19.5mm 18mm 23mm 21.5mm
Width head 23mm 18mm 23mm 21.5mm
Weight:
1xAA 46gram 24gram 60gram 54gram
2xAA 60gram






Magnet:

The magnet used in the tailcap is really strong.
It easily holds the light in different directions even with the extender attached and 2 batteries inside.
The magnet is replaceable with a circular coin like rubber, so it won`t damage any electronic device/card when using it as an EDC in your pocket.

Here some "proof" that its a really strong magnet:


UI and modes:

My first negative impression on this well made light was the UI.
After using it for a few days now I got a little more used to it, but still have some reservations.
It has mode memory, so any mode will be memorized once its turned off. As far as I could see, there is no lag.. so, turn off and quickly on (not double click) will come back to the last used mode.

From OFF, you have 3 short-cuts to 3 different modes.

  1. 1 Click: Last memorized mode
  2. Hold 1 sec: Moonlight mode
  3. 2 Fast clicks: High mode

From Moonlight mode:

  • press and hold the switch to cycle through Low, Medium, High, Low, Medium, High, etc...
    Low Medium and High are the 3 Main modes.
    You can`t
    cycle back to moonlight mode.
    For moonlight you have to turn off the light, and Press and Hold the switch for 1 seconds.

  • Strobe:
    It has a Strobe mode, but its hidden, which is a big PLUS.
    In any mode, Moon/Low/Med/Hi you can go to Strobe mode by 2 fast clicks.
    To get out of
    the strobe mode, just simply press and hold the switch for 2 seconds, which brings it back to the main 3 modes. H/M/L
  • Lock out;
    From OFF; press and hold the switch for 2 seconds, it turns to Moon-mode and directly off... THEN release the switch.
    Now its locked.. If you click on the switch, nothing will happen.
  • Except: 2 seconds press and hold, for Moonlight.
    If you want a manual lock out, you just untwist the tailcap, which breaks the circuit and will have a full lock-out.
    Safer and simpler. No parasitic drain this way.
    According to Olight, it has extremely low standby current: 0.5uA while using 1.5V battery; 1.2uA while using a 4.2V battery
  • One more thing that I noticed with this light, is that when you click the switch too short, it turns back on again.
    I would prefer to have this setting removed from the S15 successor.

PWM:
I was unable to detect any sort of PWM.


Output and Runtime;

According to the specs of Olight using a 14500 battery

  • High (280lumens : 45min),
  • Med. (70lumens : 4h),
  • Low (7lumens : 32h),
  • Moonlight (0.5lumens : 15days)

Current draw: (in Amps.)

1xAA 2xAA 14500
Moon 0.01 0.01 0.01
Low 0.04 0.02 0.03
Medium 0.50 0.22 0.25
High 2.10 1.02 0.92

My run-time check:
1xAA battery:
Runtime on High is; around 50min. After that it drops to Low, where it stays for a while.
There is no Low Voltage indicator.
But at this point the battery is depleted,but you still have a while, before the lights turns off.


Compared to:

MOON:

1.Itp a3 2.Olight S15 baton 3.SWM V11R 4.Fenix LD12

MOON:

1.SWM V11R 2.Olight S15 baton


MOON:

1.Olight S15 baton 2.Fenix LD12



MOON:

1. SWM V11R 2.Olight S15 baton

HIGH:

1.SWM V11R 2.Olight S15 baton

Conclusion:
Pros:

  • Pocketable EDC.
  • AA and 14500 compatible.
  • Able to run it off 2 or even 3 AA batteries using special extender(s).
  • Sturdy clip.
  • Square threads.
  • Side switch made of good quality, not flimsy.
  • Long runtime in Moonlight mode.
  • short cuts to 3 different modes, Moon,High andStrobe.
  • No PWM.
  • No strobe in the main output group, but hidden.
  • Lock out(Electronic) and (Manual)

Cons:

  • Run-time on High is only 50minutes. (I would prefer a slightly lower output but with a longer run-time)
  • It leaves marks on the anodizing when you remove the clip.
  • not easy to mod, even the bezel was impossible to remove by hand.
  • Switching between modes requires a full Press And Hold for 1 sec, which is too long. A simple click would be easier.
  • Forgetting to lock out, the light turns on by itself in your pocket or bag, and drains the battery.
  • It takes some practice to get the light in its electronic lock out state.

Thanks for the review!

I have to say I do love the small Olight lights. I have an S10 Baton and an M10 Maverick (Both use 16340s) and my S10 would have to be one of my favourite lights, amongst a collection including a TN30, TN31, FF4 etc. It’s build quality is superb, has massive output for its size, hidden strobe and is a clicky!

How many lumens with a AA on high?

Not easy to mod?

You sure? It looks like it’s constructed just like the S10, which was fairly easy to at least do an emitter swap.

On the S10, how to remove the bezel:

  1. Get one of those rubber pads from the grocery store used to open stuck jars. Hold it in the palm of your hand. Use your other hand to press the bezel of the light into the pad and turn. The stainless steel bezel should come right off.
  2. With the bezel off, unscrew the tailcap and insert a battery. Press the back of the battery to push the guts of the light out the head of the light. The lens and rubber lens retainer ring should come right out.
  3. The reflector and pill should move forward a short distance and then stop. This is because the alignment tab on the side of the pill hit the bezel threads. A bit of the reflector should now be sticking out of the light. Grip it and unscrew. The tab should engage the threads and unscrew all the way out.
  4. If you accidentally unscrewed the reflector from the pill, no problem. Reach into the light with needle nose pliers and unscrew the pill, or use something to lift the tab up over the threads to pull out the pill.
  5. Once the pill is out simply unscrew the reflector from the pill. The emitter should be easily accessible and a standard 16 mm star should fit fine.

The S10 (and probably the S15 too) uses an ugly yellow-tinted lens. This is a significant reason for why the S10 has such a poor tint. I suggest replacing the lens with a different one without the bad tint.

Looks good thanks!

Nice review :slight_smile:

Thanks also for the review. Nice light. Wallbuys site must be down.

Updated with some pics and current draw.

Has anybody compared the new switch on the S15 to the older type on the S10?

I dont own a S10, so I cant compare for you. What do you exactly want to know about the switch?

The switch is soft rubber on the S10. My copy doesn’t have a positive clicking action, but my S10Ti does.

I took the S10 apart to swap the emitter and discovered that the rubber button operates a small, fragile, metal switch that is flexible. I ended up having to insert some copper between the rubber button and switch to allow it to operate properly. I read online that others have mentioned switch problems with the S10, so i’m hoping they have sorted the problem with the new Blue switch of the S15.

Also, do you have a Zebralight SC52 to compare to the S15?

Thanks
Matt

Sorry, no ZL SC52 here...

This switch feels good.. no problems yet.. except for the moon mode, when I click the switch too fast to Turn it Off, it turns on again.. I have to click it a little longer.Its a matter of milliseconds.

Ok, thanks :slight_smile:

Thanks a lot for the review! Frontpage’d and Sticky’d.

I'd love to pick one of these up one day. I'm a huge fan of the Olight Baton series and have an S10 & S20. I prefer the S20 due to subtle differences in the UI and that the S20 has strobe where the S10 has a pretty useless SOS. It's safe to say that my S20 is my favorite all around light as well as my current EDC. I've tried other lights but keep coming back to the S20. Can't say enough good things about it.

Nice to see that the S15 has a hidden strobe instead of hidden SOS. It should be a great light like the S20 is. ;)

Excellent review, BTW! :beer:

Great stuff. Price is nice but at $40 it wouda been a steal.

Wow, looks like nice light, given its sub-40$ price point, could this be the best-brightest(not the thrower type) 2*AA light?

I don't know.

Haven't really tested it with 2cells against other multi cell lights yet..

I should probably take a look into it, when I have some spare time.

That would be great, take your time ;)!

Excellent review, thanks!

Just received mine from: andrew-amanda ebay store (Flashlight-Scope-Outdoors)
Sellers website: www.andrew-amanda.com#

Best price from US seller (less than Chinese sellers!) and arrived very fast (3 days!)

I also ordered a 3rd battery tube for operation with 3xAA.

Another Pro of this light is that it carries a 5-year warranty from Olight.

Considerably smaller than my Olight S20:

Although the head is exactly the same size:

Size comparison:

UltraFire C20 - Trustfire Z8 - Olight S20 - Xeno E03 - Olight S15 - SK68 - DQG Tiny 18650

The LED appears to have the same greenish tint as my old version S20, but I only compared them for a few seconds, I’ll need to do some more comparison since that issue was suppose to be resolved on the 2013 models in this series. (Supposedly there was an issue with the AR lens coating)

Also the 2013 S15 has a slightly better UI than the 2012 S20 in that it is much easier to activate the (much needed) electronic lockout feature. (Hold down switch for 2 seconds, as opposed to cycling through all the modes 3 times for the older version)

Thanks Olight for improving on this series. Now please exchange my 2012 version S20 for the 2013 model with improved switch, improved UI, higher output XML2, and better tint!!!